Before You Lose Your Eyesight, All You Pot Smokers Listen Up
If you thought your eyesight was going bad cause you were getting old, you’re probably right. But it also might actually be because you’re a deviant lil pot smoker.
According to a new study in France, prolonged marijuana use could wear down retinal ganglion cells. (For those of us who aren’t nerds, these cells sit right behind the retina.) They are crucial because they transmit information back to the brain in order to form an image.
The study found that people who avidly smoked weed for 6 years or more experienced a 10 millisecond neural signal delay. The result is the same for those who gave up smoking.
However, this study is somewhat troubling. In some cases marijuana has been proven to actually help patients suffering from glaucoma, and can even improve night vision.
Nevertheless, lead investigator Dr Vincent Laprevote, of the Pole Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie du Grand Nancy in France, says,
“OUR FINDINGS MAY BE IMPORTANT FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE SINCE THEY COULD HIGHLIGHT THE NEUROTOXIC EFFECTS OF CANNABIS USE ON THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AS A RESULT OF HOW IT AFFECTS RETINAL PROCESSING.INDEPENDENT OF DEBATES ABOUT ITS LEGALIZATION, IT IS NECESSARY TO GAIN MORE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF CANNABIS SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN BE INFORMED.”
So next time you think about hitting that joint, just remember: you’ll shoot your eye out…sort of.
